The Regnum Christi Movement offers its members some guidelines of a gospel-based spirituality as an ideal of Christian life. The spiritual path that Regnum Christi members walk mainly consists in knowing, loving, imitating, and proclaiming Christ. This is the path and these are the goals.

Below, we offer some resources that can help nurture the spiritual life of Movement members and of any Christian.

As
they were coming down from the mountain, the disciples
asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah
must come first?” He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed
come and restore all things; but I tell you
that Elijah has already come, and they did not
recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So
also will the Son of Man suffer at their
hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to
them of John the Baptist.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, your
disciples sincerely tried to comprehend your identity and believe
in you. I come before you today with my
doubts and problems, hoping to find in this prayer an
answer to my deepest aspirations. I want to believe
with unwavering faith, and I want to love you
with a devout heart. I offer you this time of
prayer as my token of gratitude for all I
have received from you.

Petition: Mary, help me to embrace
God’s will in my life, just as Christ embraced
the Father’s plan for our salvation.

1. John the Baptist
as Elijah: Once again the Gospel refers to John the
Baptist as the one whose role is to prepare
us for the One who is to come. Through the
prophet Malachi, the Jews expectation of the return of
Elijah, who will prepare the way for the promised
Messiah, has grown. But they have come to view him
as a figure of great power, someone who will
sweep men away. So they fail to recognize Elijah’s presence
in the person of John the Baptist, whose only
power is that of the Spirit of God, calling
all people to conversion of heart in order to receive
the Christ. How many times in my life do
I fail to recognize the presence of Christ in my
life because I’m seeking something other than Christ’s promises
to his followers? Christ doesn’t offer an easy path
of comfort and consolations.

2. Bethlehem and the Cross:
Why did Christ become a helpless baby at Bethlehem?
Why did he take on a fragile human body? Precisely
so he could suffer for us in order to
redeem us. What does that mean for our lives
as Christians? It means nothing less than the fact that
suffering is a gift from God. It is the
Father’s gentle caress, molding us into the image of
his Son. The cross is the source of our fruitfulness,
not only in our personal spiritual growth, but also
in the mission to win graces for others, for all
of the souls God has mysteriously entrusted to our
care.

3. Obedience unto Death: Christ’s desire to embrace
suffering rose from his loving obedience to his Father’s plan,
without condition or limit. This loving obedience is what
gives suffering its redemptive value. From the moment of
his birth at Bethlehem, Christ shows us what it
means to obey with love. Bethlehem is a school of
obedience. In Bethlehem, Christ teaches us that only a
loving obedience frees, only loving obedience redeems and sanctifies,
only loving obedience enriches. Loving obedience alone saves, loving
obedience alone frees us from sin and loving obedience alone
pleases God. Let us embrace the cross of obedience
in the challenging circumstances of our daily lives, in
the trials brought by the passing of years, in
the sorrow that afflicts us when God calls our loved
ones back to him. Loving obedience is the path
to holiness, the way to the Father’s house.

Conversation with
Christ: Thank you, Lord, for giving us
a school of loving obedience at Bethlehem, throughout your life
and in your death on the cross. Help me
to embrace suffering like you did and to be
confident in its power to make me holy and win
graces for souls.

Resolution: I will seek to recognize God’s
presence in my day by patiently welcoming the suffering
and trials he permits, so he can bring about
a greater good.

The daily meditation is a service of Regnum Christi that offers people a Gospel reflection through e-mail. You can view the weekly meditation on this link or listen the podcast version here.